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High-A West Championship Series Preview

The Eugene Emeralds and Spokane Indians will face off in the first-ever High-A West Championship Series with the Ems aiming to win their third league title in five seasons
(Jared Ravich)
September 20, 2021

The matchup is set. The Eugene Emeralds (69-50) and Spokane Indians (67-49) will meet in the best-of-five High-A West Championship Series this week in Spokane, Washington. ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: The High-A West Championship series will begin on Tuesday, September 20 at Avista Stadium. The schedule is as follows: -

The matchup is set. The Eugene Emeralds (69-50) and Spokane Indians (67-49) will meet in the best-of-five High-A West Championship Series this week in Spokane, Washington.

ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: The High-A West Championship series will begin on Tuesday, September 20 at Avista Stadium. The schedule is as follows:

  • GAME ONE: Tuesday, September 21 | 6:30pm PST

  • GAME TWO: Wednesday, September 22 | 6:30pm PST

  • GAME THREE: Thursday, September 23 | 6:30pm PST

  • GAME FOUR (if necessary): Friday, September 24 | 6:30pm PST (if necessary)

  • GAME FIVE (if necessary): Saturday, September 25 | 1:00pm PST (if necessary)

Every game of the High-A West Championship Series will be played at Avista Stadium in Spokane, Washington. CLICK HERE to learn more about why that is.

The Emeralds will play as the ‘away’ team for Games 1-2 and play as the ‘home’ team for Games 3-5.

Spokane does not provide an MiLB.tv online broadcast, but fans can follow along by tuning via 95.3FM The Score, the MiLB First Pitch App, or at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com.

ABOUT THE EMERALDS: The Ems have been a model of consistency all season long, having never fallen out of the top half of the High-A West standings at any point this season.

Eugene’s pitching staff ended the season ranked third in all of Minor League Baseball in strikeouts (1,311), trailing only the Greenville Drive (1,315) and, coincidentally, the team below the Emeralds in the San Francisco Giants affiliate ladder, the San Jose Giants (1,439).

Eugene’s bullpen in particular has been one of the best, if not the best, in all of Minor League Baseball this season. The Emeralds ‘pen posted an absurd 45-9 record this season, the fewest bullpen losses by any MiLB team by a solid margin (next closest: Portland Sea Dogs – 13). Additionally, the bullpen’s 3.79 ERA and 695 strikeouts ranked first and second, respectively, across the High-A circuit.

Meanwhile, Eugene has showcased a knack for clutch performances and winning tight ballgames.

In late/close situations (see definition below), the Emeralds offense ranks 2nd in High-A in batting average (.275), 3rd in runs scored (75), 2nd in on-base percentage (.393), 1st in slugging (.497), and 1st in OPS (.890).

Late/close definition per MLB.com: Late-inning pressure situations are defined as any at-bat in the seventh inning or later where the batter’s team trails by three runs or fewer, is tied or is ahead by only one run. If the bases are loaded and the batting team trails by four runs, this also counts as a late-inning pressure situation.

Add that up, and that’s a big reason why the Ems went 22-11 in one-run games this year.

ABOUT THE INDIANS: Entering play on July 28 of this year, the High-A West standings stood as follows:

  1. Everett AquaSox (49-24)

  2. Eugene Emeralds (42-32, 7.5 GB)

  3. Spokane Indians (34-40, 15.5 GB)

Since, the Indians finished the season on an astounding 33-10 run, the best record in all of Minor League Baseball during that stretch.

In their 43 games played during that span, Spokane batted .291 as a team (3rd in MiLB) while posting a .982 fielding percentage, the best in all of High-A.

The Indians chased down the AquaSox by going 13-3 against the Frogs over the final 16 meetings between the two teams this season.

This week’s matchup will mark the first time these two teams have met since July 13-18. Over this season’s three previous series between the Ems and Indians, Eugene has gone 12-6 against Spokane while winning two series and splitting another.

WHAT’S NEXT: The High-A West Championship Series will start on Tuesday at Avista Stadium. First pitch on Tuesday is slated for 6:30pm PST.

You can catch all the action in Spokane with road broadcaster Alex Stimson on the call via 95.3FM The Score, the MiLB First Pitch app, or at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com.

Tickets to Emeralds home games are available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.

Stay up to date with the Emeralds by following the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.